Summary: the Council delayed responding to queries about how new waste collection arrangements would work and failed to action the change to communal collections properly. That led to Mr B going to time and trouble to pursue his complaint and residents being confused about the dates for their waste collections. An apology and rectification of problems with the online missed collections system is satisfactory remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr B, complained about the way the Council dealt with changes to waste collection arrangements for his road. Mr B complained the Council:
• delayed responding to his queries about how the new waste collection arrangements would work;
• failed to consider his request for individual food waste collection caddies or his concerns about the size of the bins provided; and
• failed to record the right collection dates for his property online which made it difficult for him to report missed collections.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a Council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Mr B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided;
• gave the Council an opportunity to comment on my draft decisions; and
• considered Mr B’s comments on my draft decisions.

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What I found

Background – waste collection arrangements

5. In March 2017 the Council approved a contract with Veolia for new waste collection services. Between January and February 2018 the Council carried out bin audits and reorganised collection rounds for future roll-out.
6. The Council began delivering leaflets to tell residents about the waste collection changes on 21 May 2018.
7. Between 30 July and 21 September 2018 the Council delivered the new containers and bins to residents. The Council delivered a service information pack with the bins. I understand the Council could only deliver five of the bins to the 10 properties on Mr B’s road due to lack of storage areas.
8. The new waste collection service began on 1 October 2018.
9. On 12 December the Council became aware wheelie bin collections were not suitable for the property type in Mr B’s road. The Council decided to provide communal bins and remove any individual bins wrongly delivered. I understand that did not take place until 1 March. At that point the Council hand-delivered letters and service leaflets to the properties on Mr B’s road to explain the changes. The Council also updated the waste collection schedule.

Complaint chronology

10. On 14 November 2018 Mr B complained about changes to the waste collection arrangements and asked the Council for clarification. The Council responded to the complaint on 10 January 2019 and told Mr B it intended to schedule communal collections for his road.
11. On 23 January Mr B asked for his complaint to go to stage two as residents did not know what they should do with their waste. The Council sent Mr B a holding response on 26 February. On 7 March the Council responded to the complaint and apologised for the delay. The Council explained how the new collection arrangements would work.

Analysis

12. Mr B says the Council delayed responding to his queries about how waste collection arrangements would work on his road when a new service was introduced in October 2018. The evidence I have seen satisfies me there were some issues with how the new waste collection arrangements would work for Mr B’s road. What should have happened is delivery of the new wheelie bins ready for the start of the new collections at the beginning of October 2018, along with a leaflet describing the new service and how it would work. However, because I understand storage arrangements are limited on Mr B’s road the Council’s contractor could only deliver five wheelie bins rather than the 10 required. It seems to me likely this also meant the Council did not deliver leaflets to five of the properties, although I note this did not include Mr B’s property. In those circumstances it is unlikely those residents who did not receive a new bin would have known what the changes meant for them. As that did not affect Mr B directly as his was one of the properties that received a bin I do not consider he personally suffered an injustice as a result, other than the time and trouble he had to go to trying to get answers for other residents.
13. In addition to that it also became clear the new arrangements would not work for Mr B’s road due to the specific characteristics of how to access the development and the distance required for contractors to move the bins. I am surprised the Council had not identified a potential issue with the proposed arrangements for Mr B’s road. The Council had a long lead in time to consider how to implement the changes and it knew Mr B’s road posed specific issues. Failure to consider that before making the changes is fault.
14. I am satisfied Mr B raised issues about how the arrangements would work for his road in November 2018. I am concerned about the delay identifying suitable arrangements for Mr B’s road and the delay communicating that to residents. Both are fault. It is also fault that the Council did not deliver the new bins until March 2019. I consider it likely Mr B and other residents in his road were confused about the waste collection arrangements and how they would work given I have seen no evidence of communications with them between the introduction of the new service in October 2018 and delivery of the communal bins on 1 March 2019.
15. The Council also failed to adhere to its complaint timescales when dealing with Mr B’s complaint. I recognise the Council was likely under significant pressure at the time as Mr B is not the only one whose new bin collection arrangements did not happen smoothly. That is likely to have resulted in a much higher level of resident contact with the Council. In relation to Mr B’s stage two response though I am satisfied the Council sent him a holding reply explaining it needed to gather further evidence before providing a formal response. In those circumstances I consider the Council’s apology for the delay responding to the complaints satisfactory remedy for the injustice caused.
16. Mr B says the Council failed to consider his request for individual food waste bins and failed to consider his representations about the size of the bins provided. I am satisfied though the Council decided what waste collection arrangements were appropriate for Mr B’s road following a visit which identified issues with access. The Council has also confirmed its contractor is equipped to manage communal bins of the size provided to Mr B’s road. I am also satisfied the Council explained to Mr B how residents can request indoor food caddies. I therefore have no grounds to criticise the Council.
17. Mr B says the Council failed to record the right collection dates and arrangements for his property online which made it difficult for him to report missed collections. As I understand it, this relates to the Council having to change the collection arrangements for Mr B’s road as it later decided wheelie bins were not appropriate. I understand the new collection arrangements should have changed in December 2018 but this did not happen until after new communal bins were delivered in March 2019. I have already criticised the Council for that delay. It is likely this meant the Council’s online information was out of date which is likely to have misled Mr B and other residents. Mr B has provided evidence of continuing problems reporting missed collections which suggests the Council’s online system remains out of date. I recommend the Council amend the system to enable residents on Mr B’s development to report missed collections.
18. I do not consider it necessary to make any other recommendation for service improvements. That is because it is unlikely the Council will change the arrangements in the near future. I made the point earlier though about having information about specific issues with Mr B’s road which should have informed the Council’s decision making about the appropriate collection arrangements. I would expect the Council to learn from that in any future proposed changes to ensure those with special arrangements are given greater consideration to ensure any proposed changes are likely to work.

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Recommended action

19. Within one month of my decision the Council should:
• apologise to Mr B for failing to clarify the waste collection arrangements for his road between October 2018 and March 2019; and
• resolve the problems with the Council’s website so Mr B and other residents can report any missed collections.
20. The Council has already apologised for the delay responding to Mr B’s complaint.

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Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council in part of the complaint which caused Mr B an injustice. I am satisfied the action the Council will take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman